From top to bottom: Harvest by Asif Khan
You’ve got them, we’ve got them, and it’s not just us, it’s the (occidental) world really. We buy plants and bouquets for our birthdays, specific holidays, because we’ve done something right or because we’ve done something wrong. It’s a tradition that fills our little hearts with so much warmth, receiving a bouquet is like receiving an acknowledgment from your loved one: “You exist”. Even if we whole-heartedly know that due to our (un)green-thumbness sooner or later they become extra fodder you need to dispose of. Though some of us are better at making them last, some of us are better at making them die. One of us is great at making them into functional furniture. Asif Khan makes chairs and tables out of “common” flowers found throughout the streets of London.
From Left to right: Harvest by Asif Khan
The furniture combines weaving, moulding, freeze-drying (with an industrial dryer, over several weeks), hardening, then all component are fused using a linseed oil based resin. He created these pieces, in which the natural branching structure (it interlocks and can support a lot of weight) was highlighted, to create these sturdy pieces. It was a project, part of the “Designers in Residence” program at the Design Museum in London. It was up until March 15th, so sadly most of us missed making the trek to see it, up close in personal, but it does leave us in a vacuum of possibilities, bubbling with excitement, widening our eyes, making us searching to detritus to make our own furniture (though independent creators should be supported by all of us, when possible). As we just saw in the post about Capello’s work (Long live the Christmas trees?), these dubious traditions that we hold so dear, now have a chance to grow into a lasting piece of (natural) design.
More information on Asif Khan here